The Aetherium Ship
by Zamio15
Summary: In the 7th Era, Tamriel is under attack. Beseiged by the Ideal Masters, the mysterious ruler's of the Soul Cairn. They swept through the land, crushing all that stood in their way. However, the few that remain stand against the tide. When the last stronghld falls, one shall be sent back in time, to activate the only thing that could save them. The Aetherium Ship.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey there people. When I got the idea for this story, I was playing a mod called Aethernautics: A Space Travel Mod. The story line of the mod involved a ship and the Ideal Masters, and so on. I shan't spoil it for those who might wish to play it. After I had finished playing it, I wondered how the lives of those who lived in those times were like. And what would happen if they tried to change their fates? That was how this storyline came into existance. Hope you enjoy it. Of course, the backdrop belongs to the creator of the Aethernautics mod, and the world of Skyrim belongs to Bethesda. Only the OC's belong to me._

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Lost in time and space. Antanno clutched his head, hoping not to notice the sprites and whatever may exist in the Void. Trying to distract himself, he thought back to the moments before he was cast into the Void.

Antanno crouched down hurridly. He glanced towards Greir. Her golden hair, which normally flowed around her shoulder's and Nordic skin were tied into a bun. She wore leather armour, just like he did. He indicated to the structure ahead of them. A cabin in the woods. Seemingly empty. But that was what they thought last time, and Irbran had paid the price for their foolishness. The world around them was dark and the sun almost blotted out. Things were almost always like that after the Ideal Masters had attacked Tamriel. No one knew why they had attacked. Maybe their thirst for souls had drove them to look for another source. Maybe they just hated everyone else and saw fit to destroy them. Either way, they were here. And someone had to stop them. "Go round the back" Antanno whispered to Greir, " Make sure nothing is moving in there." Swiftly Greir moved to the cabin. Antanno was still amazed with how fast she moved. She could remain undetected for hours and was still faster than everyone in the resistance. Her keen senses and swift movements had saved them both several times in the past. She crouched beside the cabin and put her ear's to the wall. If anything was in there, she could hear it. Too bad for Irbran she never listened last time, Antanno thought bitterly. He quickly put all thought's like that out of his head. He needed to be ready for anything. Greir motioned to him that nothing was in there. Slowly, he crept to the door and drew out his blade. It was a slim blade, much slimmer than any the warriors at the fort used. Much smaller too. Even though Greir had called it safe, he still had careful. Even the best make mistakes. Drawing a deep breath, I opened the door.

She was wrong. A Boneman had it's back turned to me and was observing a book. As soon as Antanno had opened the door, it whirled around and unsheated it's axe. It was an ugly thing, nicked and dull. But it was still capable of cutting hmy innards out. It raised the axe and swung it towards me. Antanno quickly dodged out of the way and raised his own blade. He kicked the Boneman in it's ribs viciously and saw two ribs snap under the attack. He moved his foot down and rammed the hilt of the sword unto the skull of the Boneman, cracking it. Finally, it fell to the ground. Antanno breathed a sigh of relief. Just to make sure the thing was dead, he crushed the skull beneath his heel. Just then, Greir ran round the side, a surprised look on her face. "What is going..." She looked down at the Boneman at his feet. "I didn't hear it, really." Antanno rolled his eyes and walked to what the Boneman was looking at. "Come, take a look at this." I beckoned to Greir. "It was reading this before I came in." A book lay on a table in front of a mirror. Antanno looked into the mirror at his own reflection. His hair was shaved as low as it could get. This seemed to go with his Reguard skin, in a funny way. He noticed the scar running down from his eye to the end of his nose. A reminder of what would happen if he ever let his guard down again. It still stung a little, but he was able to convince their Ork leader, Ghamul, that he was fine. Antanno still chuckled when he thought of their leader. Who would have guessed that an Orc would be a bastion of hope? Antanno turned his attention back to the book. It was obviously a journal. A couple of pages told me that it was from a survivor. Where was this person anyway? "Go check the rest of the cabin. See if you can get a clue where the owner went." Antanno told Greir. She nodded and went rummaging around the cabin. Most of it was irrelevant rubbish, but one bit caught his eye. Antanno began reading it out loud for Greir to hear. "23rd of Mid-year: The Ideal Master's continue their hunt throughout the land for the people of Tamriel. I was previously unsure of whether anyone was still alive. However, today as I went for my morning stroll, I took a new way. Didn't meet any resistance at all, strangly enough. I looked towards the old ruin of Whiterun, and saw lights. Lights! People must be around. I checked the place out and I was right. At least forty people were in that place. They seemed to have made a community! I decided against going to them today. Maybe later."

Antanno put the book down and stared at Greir. She looked up and stared back at him. They knew what each other were thinking. Without hesitation, they both tore out of the cabin and started running home. All Antanno could think was "Talos, Divines, please, if there was ever a chance you cared about us, don't let them find us." They both ran till they saw the ruins. From here, they could hear burning and screams. Antanno's heart sank into his feet. That could mean only one think.  
They had found his home.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Wow. I suddenly understand what takes people so long to make new chapters. These things take a lot of effort to actually keep making and editing to make sure things are in the correct order. For instance, I had to edit out a couple of spelling mistakes, italics and the lot. And I think that after this is done, I'm gonna re-write the bad parts. But anyway, I'm experimenting with how long a single chapter should be. Short and plentiful, or long and few. This is going to be a long chapter, so please, tell me what you think. Or better yet, tell me anything about the story. And a quick head's up, while Tamriel does not evolve it's weapons quickly, some at least is made. And in the 7th Era, They are bound to have some form of projectile weapon other than bows and arrows. Nothing big like RPG's and stuff like that, but stuff from 1608 like Muskets and the like. But again, technology is weird in Tamriel, so stuff like Space Travel is made possible by the Dwemer. Constructive Criticism is always welcomed. Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from the OC's used in the story. Everything else is Bethesda's or the creator of the Aethernautics mod._

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Before Greir could even say, "Wait!" Antanno had already begun sprinting back to the Whiterun ruins. Greir quickly took off after him. She couldn't allow him to do something reckless and get himself killed.

"Antanno, wait! We need to think things through!" She called to him and she began to close the distance.

"What is there to think about? We get back there and stop them." He replied. He looked over his shoulder and saw Greir right behind him. She grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to a stop.

"If all you do is run ahead and get killed, you won't be saving anybody! The Ideal Masters would just have one more soul in the Cairn." She explained, while still keeping a firm hand on his shoulder. Antanno looked down at the grounds. Inwards, he was seething with anger. How cold Greir act like this now? But he still knew she was right. Getting killed was no help to anyone. He lifted his head and looked her in the eye.

"Well then, what do you propose we do?"

_Meanwhile in the ruins of Whiterun_

"Keep moving! Back towards Dragonsreach!", Ghamul roared towards his make-shift army and the people they were protecting. Still moving towards them, were the Bonemen army. They stretched almost endlessly. The Ideal Masters must really want their souls, Ghamul mused. Wouldn't surprise him, considering how many hit and run attacks he had lead against their strongholds. Moving his bearded head to the left, he noticed five Bonemen had crept round, trying to ambush his people. Ghamul lifted his heavy battleaxe and roared at them, before charging. Before they could even turn their attention to him, he had slashed through two of them with frightening speed. One attempted to make a slash at him, which was quickly dodged. Ghamul quickly reached out and grabbed the arm that had thrust the sword forward and ripped it off. Using that arm, he embedded the sword into the head of the Boneman. He turned to face the remaining two, the battle-raging over taking him. They seemed to pause before attacking him. Ghamul used this pause to leap towards the two in order to deliver his final blow. Ghamul sent a vicious punch the Boneman's way, effectively crushing it's skull with a single punch. He then kicked the last Boneman to the floor and stomped on it's skull. Ghamul then turned towards the remainder of his people. They were beating the Bonemen, but the problem was that there were simply too many of them. Once again,Ghamul roared out

"Refugees, get inside Dragonsreach!". All of a sudden, he heard a cry from the sky. He turned his head to the sky, and all of a sudden his blood ran cold. Huge shadowy birdlike beast's circled around the sky. In their talons, they held barrels of gunpowder. An invention that was discovered before the Ideal Masters were created. Another thing they were only too happy to take. The fuse on the things were lit and thrown towards the crowd. Ghamul started to move back and screamed again, "MOVE!". The civilians and some of the army began running towards the structure. Not enough. If those things hit the people, most would be killed. Suddenly, in mid-air, the barrels exploded. Ghamul looked around at what who had saved them. Standing on the walls of the City were both Greir and Antanno holding muskets. Ghamul lifted his battleaxe towards the air and roared his triumuph. "Come on, you lot. Into the building." He called.

Greir and Antanno looked down at the people moving into Dragonsreach. Greir glanced at him and saw him smile.

"Now you see what happens when you listen to me?" Greir teased.

Antanno just kept smiling. He saw their leader still shout at the crowd. He was clad from head to toe in his traditional Orcish armour. He even wielded the Orc battleaxe. The old thing was chipped from cutting into countless skulls and heads, yet Ghamul still used it with pride. Him and the thing were rarely separated.

"Ready for Phase Two?" Greir asked Antanno.

"Yeah. Let's go." Antanno replied.

The grabbed the two barrels of gunpowder that was behind them. They jumped down and placed the barrels besides two pillars of rubble. The general idea was, that when blown up, all the collected rubble would fall down, causing the attacking army some trouble getting all the army over. Antanno and Greir lit the barrels and ran to safe distance as the barrels detonated. Already the Bonemen were struggling to figure out how to get over the rubble. Greir smiled before heading back into Dragonsreach.

"You two, over here." Ghamul beckoned to the the two youths that entered the palace. Antanno looked around. The civilians were sitting around fires or in corners, shivering and looking around nervously. Those who could hold a weapon were looking around the area, making sure nothing had got in with them. He could see the obvious fatigue and inexperience of most of these men. Some of them had never had to fight in their life. Antanno and Greir walked towards Ghamul.

"What's up?" Greir asked.

"Our resident Wizard, Quann, has asked to speak to us. He says he has a way to fix all this." Ghamul replied

"Fix all this? Bit cryptic, don't you say?"

"That's the way Quaan works. No one really knows what he is talking about except him."

The three began walking towards the mages quarters. As they approached, they heard him muttering to himself. Antanno caught certain bit's of information like "Aetherium" and " Must be launched". They entered the doorway and Ghamul coughed to announce their arrival. Quann turned his head to face the three. His face was wrinkled and had a large white beard that fell to his stomach. He looked tired but his eye's crackled with arcane energy that was untapped. His iris and pupils were just as white as each other, which was a side-effect of him being blind. Of course, his magic had helped him sense things and he didn't need any assistance and made his way as if he was not blind. He had arrived at the ruins five day's after it was founded and had settled with the resistance. His magic and quick-thinking had saved many lives. Sometimes Antanno trained with him, hoping to tap into the knowledge that the mage had. Of course, Quann had given him snippets of information and nothing substantial. Just like the guy. Antanno's magical abilities had significantly improved since he started training with the wizard. Greir for some reason refused to train with the mage. "Don't want to know what he has done in his past, or how to be like him. I'll be fine with my own magic." She had said when Antanno first tried to get her to join them.

"Ah yes, come in." He said beckoning them in. "Look at this book. I found it before I came here." Quann pointed to a book and showed the a picture. It looked like a huge ship. A kid of air-ship that was supposedly being made before the Ideal Masters came on the scene. While Greir looked intently at the picture, Ghamul just stared blankly.

"What does this have to do with anything? All this is, is a picture. A nice one, but still a picture." Ghamul stated.

Quann smiled wistfully "You don't understand. This is the most important ship in our history. It can be the turning point of this war."

Antanno and Greir looked up with surprise. Something that would turn this war in their favour? That was a pretty huge statement to make. And Quann would never raise their hopes like this if he was not sure about what he was talking about. However, Ghamul still looked uncertain.

"How is one early air-ship going to turn a war against inter-dimensional beings who ripped Tamriel apart in months?" He asked.

"But this is no ordinary ship. It was designed by the Dwemer. It was made specifically for if a time like this should ever come. It has numerous weapons that easily dwarf our own and could destroy armies easily." Quann explained. "But my main interest in it was in a device implanted in the machine that could open and close rift's between the planes of existence. This thing could travel through the Daedric's planes of existence, and through the Void. If we had this ship, there would be no war. When the portal between the Soul Cairn and Nirn was opened, the ship would have shut it down before anything got through!"

At this a smile began to cross Ghamul's face. "So, let's go get this ship!"

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple." Quann said. Antanno felt a sinking feeling. Nothing ever was simple any more. "I headed to the site of the Aetherium Ship as soon as I heard of it. However, the Ship was missing. Of course, once the Ideal Master's invaded, I knew why. They had snuck into the place and stolen the ship. They used that to dominate Tamriel quickly. Like I said, it's a powerful ship."

"Wait a second." Greir began "You were there when the Ideal Master's invaded? That was over 200 year's ago!" Quann simply looked at her and smiled. Ghamul just shook his head. There was still so much they didn't know about Quann.

"But back to the task at hand," Antanno said, "How are we going to get the ship back? What was the point of telling us about it?"

At this Quann began to smile even wider. "That's where I come in. I'm going to be sending you three back in time to recover the ship and end the war before it even begins."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Now we re back! Apologies for the long ass wait, but my wired internet was down for several day's and the only things able to connect was my Ipod and Laptop, but both are very bad for writing. In other news I had my first Favourite! Thank you so much! Now let's go for a review. I know I'm not a great writer, and I always look for way's to improve. So an experience review could point out where I went wrong and help me get better. So once again, review guys! Anyway, enough begging, let's get back to the story._

Antanno walked to the canopy of Dragonsreach. The horde of Wrathmen, Bonemen and the like still waited by the doors. After a few of them being blown up by protective runes covering the doors in case of blades and weapons hitting it, they had finally been able to figure out that smashing the doors would do only them harm. They seem to be attempting to starve the people out, noted Antanno. He prepared the levitation spell Quann had taught him. Quann had said that his magicka pool had more than enough to keep in him the air for more than required to get him to Old Jorrvaskr. Closing him eyes, he prepared himself. He brought the spell to memory and gathered the knowledge within himself. He felt the magicka flow through his body and as that happened, he began to lift off the ground. He heard the faint mutterings on a soldier who had been watching him. He kept going up, till he opened his eyes. He glanced down and instantly regretted it. The horde hadn't noticed him but the ground was pretty far below. One mistake, and he would fall towards the ground...and the ready arms of the Wrathmen. He focused again and began moving towards the building he had to go to. He recalled his mission. To set up the fire cannons on the roof of Jorrvaskr and fire at the horde. Just enough to disorient them so that Greir, Shamul and Quann could barge their way past the horde and get to Jorrvaskr. They would quickly get into the Underforge, lock the door with a spell and Quann would attempt to send them back. Greir was skeptical, till she heard they would have invisibility spells on them when they had to barge past. Antanno began to lower himself besides the doors of Jorvasskr. He peeked up at the Skyforge, where two Wrathmen stood, guarding the forge. No doubt they had discovered its power and wanted to keep it for their masters. Two Fire-Cannons lied beside the Forge. Antanno unsheathed his shortsword and cast a Muffle Spell on himself. He was going to have to keep it stealthy in order to not warn the main army. He slid down into a crouch and crept to the back of the Forge, where the two Wrathmen had their back's facing. They stood exactly besides each other. Antanno lept up and climbed up the back of the forge. Keeping low, he got closer to the two. As he did, he withdrew a silver dagger we had as a backup. Suddenly. With startling speed, he stood as he was right behind them and stabbed both in the head. They fell silently without much bother. Antanno retrieved his weapons and picked up the Fire-Cannons. Using Levitation again, he got on top of the roof and began setting up the Fire-Cannon. He lit them to fire right at the centre of the crowd.

"Your turn now." He muttered.

Quann, who had been using a Detect Life spell, had been watching Antanno's progress from the door's of Dragonsreach. He stood up straight abruptly and turned to Ghamul and Greir. Without a word, he cast Invisibility spells on all three of them.

"Be ready on my signal." He said to both.

Ghamul grunted at this and Greir gave a nervous smile. Invisible or not, running through a army of Bonemen would not feel comfortable. Quann looked at Antanno again. He had lit the Fire-Cannons and they were firing. Seconds later, an explosion was heard, near the doors.

"Now!" Quann cried. And in seconds they were off, smashing through the doors and through the crowd. Ghamul was a wrecking ball, knocking everything in his path out of it. Greir nimbly dodged through the crowd avoiding all of the dazed enemy lying around. Quann had simply summoned a protective shield around him, knocking everything in his way to the ground. Antanno, who had been watching their progress, jumped off the roof and into the Underforge, shortly joined by the others. Just before entering, Ghamul looked back at Dragonsreach. The horde was beginning to recover and was roaring at the tower, unaware that their targets had escaped. The doors had been locked and barred again. Ghamul sighed a sigh of relief. They would be fine without him for a while. He then turned and headed into the Underforge.

The Underforge was a dark smelly place, barely lighted by the lone torch hanging in the center of it's only room. In the very centre was a lifted bowl, dried up and had cracks in it. The entire place had cobweb's and didn't look like anyone had set for in there for hundreds of years. Antanno noted all this and moved to Quann, who was standing beside the bowl.

"What now?" Antanno asked. Ghamul and Greir joined them around the bowl.

"Did you know there was actually a city beneath this place?" Quann said. "A people that lived beneath the surface. They have since wiped themselves out, but they likely understood magic well, as a mage was able to make a crack in time down there. Perhaps they used it but knew not what it would do." Ghamul sighed loudly. Quann stopped his speech and looked up at him quizzically.

"We have no time for a history lesson. Every second that passes, gives them another second to find us. Now get to the point." Ghamul explained.

"Of course..The crack is what is so important. I intend to use it to throw you three unto the time stream in a manner that will land you all together at exactly the right place at exactly the right time. Then you can activate the ship, and stop the Ideal Masters from ever invading."

"Sorry to interrupt.." Greir interjected, "Isn't messing with time extremely dangerous? And secondly, how are we actually going to get back?" At this Quanns face straightened. He looked into all three of their eyes each as he spoke.

"While 'messing' with time can be dangerous, I assure you, I am no novice. And secondly, I won't fool you. Once you go, there won't be any going back." At this everyone fell into a stunned silence. They could barely believe what they had heard. After a while, Antanno managed to stutter

"W-wait, what do you mean, we won't ever be going back?"

"Exactly what I said. I'm sorry, but this is the only way. I understand its a big sacrifice, but this is needed in order to save us all." Ghamul began to feel emotional, but quickly steeled himself. He knew this had to be done.

"Very well then." Ghamul said. "Let's go do this." As Ghamul said these word, the top of the roof began to disintegrate. The four watched, surprised at this. Suddenly the sky was visible, and a great giant purple crystal was descending towards them. No one knew what it was or what its intentions were. None except Quann. Instantly he had recognised it. He spun around to the other three.

"RUN!" He roared. With some hesitation, they fled deep into the Undercity. As they passed the entrance of the Undercity, an earthquake rocked the place and loosened boulder's which dropped on the entrance. With Ghamul, Greir and Antanno on one side, and Quann on the other. As soon as Antanno recovered, he ran to the boulders.

"No!" He cried, "Bust through these rocks and get over here!". On the other side, Quann shook his head sadly.  
"I'm not going to do that. I need to buy you time before that diamond reaches us. If it does, I doubt you or the others will make it down there. Besides, I thought you how to open cracks. You know what to do."

Antanno slammed his fist's on the boulders again, tears coming to his eyes.

"But if that crystal is what I think it is...you won't stand a chance! It will kill you and take your soul back to the Cairn!"

Quann smiled once more. "Yes it will. But if you stop this future from happening, I would never have died. Now go! And good luck." With that Quann turned and walked away. Antanno slowly composed himself and began walking down, down towards the time crack.

Quann turned, back to the hole in the ceiling of the cave. The Crystal had come down closer and had began morphing into a humanoid shape, without any features and completely purple. From the shape came a broken distorted lofty sounding voice.

"Quann, the one who has thwarted us a hundred times. Today, you run no longer. Today you fall!"

Quann smiled grimly as he brought a Alteration spell to his finger tips.

"I'm not running any longer."

The shape roared with laughter, a sort of twisted inhuman sounding laughter.

"What can you do?" It laughed. "Against us? The Ideal Masters!" It calmed and stared him down.

"Already your strength is sapped from your body. Prepare yourself. For we shall save your tired, broken soul from its frail body and send it into the Soul Cairn." With that its hands flew alight with a Destruction spell. Quann quickly cast a custom made spell which wound make his skin as hard as the Daedric Armours of the Dremora. With his other hand, he raised a ward to block the thunder spell thrown at him. As that was done, the Ideal Master threw a weak fireball at the floor casting dust into the air. Quann coughed and used a Detect Dead spell to try and identify the Ideal Master, at the same time holding a frost spell in his hand. He searched quickly, sweeping his great head back and forth. Suddenly from the mist's leapt the Ideal Master. Just as the creature connected his fist with Quann's head, he had grabbed the Ideal Masters hand and tossed him aside as the dust settled. It's head turned to the side quizzically.

"How..."

Quann broke down into a fighting stance of the Whispering Fang.

"I was trained for unarmed combat by a Khajit monk in case Magic could no longer be applied."

The Ideal Master snarled and leapt to his feet ready to fight again. It ran at him with a kick to the chest which was followed up by rapid punches. Quann quickly slapped the kick to the side and began dodging the punches, weaving around each one. He stuck the purple beasts head, and followed it up with a kick to the face. It flew back and hit the ground. Quann began breathing heavily. Moving like that had taken much from him. He quickly restored his stamina using his massive mana reserves. Suddenly the Ideal Masters form stirred. He stood with massing fire energies growing in his hands.

"I will obliterate you!" It screamed. "Die!" With that it released the fire from his hands in the form of a beam towards Quann. Quann quickly drew upon another spell that he had made. It was also a beam, one that had both electrical properties and frost properties that would be a deadly blow to any it hit. The two beams flew towards the air to each other and collided with astonishing forces, destroying the bowl in the centre and incinerating several boulders. Quann kept pushing at the beam, using all the Magicka he could towards him. However, even his magicka had a limit. Seemingly, the Ideal Masters did not. The beam drew closer and closer to Quann, even as he struggled against it. The Ideal Master noticed this and roared with confidence of victory. Quann knew this was far too strong for him. Even he couldn't beat an Ideal Master.

"So it has come down to this.", Quann thought. He sighed and began silently activating runes placed around his body. The runes were not simple destruction spells. They had the power to destroy pure magical beings. Hopefully, it would work now. The beam drew closer to Quann. Quann again sighed and let go of his own beam. The moment the other beam of destruction collided with him, the runes activated. The entire area up to Dragonsreach was destroyed by the resulting blast. When the dust cleared, neither Quann or the Ideal Master's bodies were to be found. Both had been disintegrated.


	4. Chapter 4

_Apologies for the longer than usual waiting time. I could have done this sooner, but I just felt out of it. That is not a real excuse, but again, sorry. Also, this chapter is turned out to be shorter than the others. I know its annoying, but there's plenty of stuff I want to do in the next chapters that would feel kinda anticlimatic. Remember to review. That's really important for this story to get better. And we all want this to get better. As per usual, don't own anything except OC's. _

Antanno, Greir and Ghamul ran down the ancient city's staircase leading to the Time rift. The place looked as if it were built one day ago. The buildings looked in proper condition and the walls didn't suffer from the slightest deterioration. Greir wondered on this as she walked up to one and began looking at it. She would have continued to do so, if Ghamul didn't clear his throat to wake her up. Antanno began concentrating, trying to root out where the Rift may be exactly. Suddenly, he whirled round and reached for his blade. He heard a scuttling in the distance, behind a building. He tried to hear it again, but no sound could be heard. Ghamul eyed him cautiously.

"Are you OK there?" Ghamul questioned.

"Yes..", Antanno replied. "Just thought I heard something." Antanno began concentrating again. He started walking to the north of the city. Ghamul looked around and drew his battle axe, just in case. Greir looked around and took out a flintlock, a weapon that was made pre-Ideal Masters and a illusion fear spell. She had attached a short sword to it's tip to make it effective in melee combat. They kept a look out for anything that may be hostile in the City. Antanno walked faster till he reached the very North, were a flight of steps lead to a pedestal. And there lay the Time Rift. Rather than a simple clean cut, it was an ugly thing, like someone ripped it apart. Antanno began to worry. This could be extremely dangerous and unstable. They may not even end up in the same time or place. But they still had to do it.

"Antanno!" called out Ghamul. "We aren't alone here!" Antanno turned around and saw them. Pale beings, warped and twisted, with bodys parts decaying, or not there at all. But in some places, they were young. Some as young as babies. Disgusting mutations. Was this what the Rift did to the civilisation that exploited it? Antanno shuddered. However, feeling sorry for these poor creatures would have to wait as they didn't look too pleased. 10 of them had gathered and they began to wail in a high pitched voice. They all then began to charge. Perhaps this was their way of saying Hello, but frankly, no one was taking any chances. Within seconds, Greir aimed her flintlock and fired it into the crowd. One of them screamed and fell. Ghamul leapt into action, slicing with his great battleaxe, downing two of their number and slicing off the sickly moulded arm of one. This only infuriated the creature, and lashed out at Ghamul with a tentacle arm. The arm was extremely powerfull, sending Ghamul flying away and into a building. The dust flew as the wall was almost knocked through. Ghamul coughed and stood up again, to find the beast bearing down on him.

"Antanno!" He cried, "Open that rift! And hurry!"

Antanno began working, attempting to pry the thing open, using a spell that was taught to him. The problem is that the spell drained a lot of magicka quickly. It was a spell only for true masters. And Antanno was no master. Even so, he continued his attempts, and was able to do with more ease, as his clothing had a Magicka Regeneration enchantment on it. Greir saw the crowd turn from her to Ghamul and prepared another spell in her free hand She brought up a Rage illusion spell and fired it at a creature in the crowd. Instantly it turned on its companions and began assaulting them with all its might. The confusion let Ghamul slip back to Greir's side, while she quickly reloaded her pistol. She then aimed and fired, while firing another Rage spell. They slaughtered each other quickly enough. Another howl came from the distance. Greir looked back at Antanno.

"Could you hurry it up? More are incoming." She called.

Antanno ignored her. He was too concentrated on his spell to actually pay attention. Slowly, the rift opened wider, and Antanno could use it easily.

"Alright, I have it!" Antanno told the others. They anxiously hurried to his side. Just before reaching him, Ghamul looked back to see swarms of the monsters charging en masse. Ghamul turned back to Antanno. Antanno opened the rift and was concentrating on a time and era. He could feel the rift plucking at him, trying to suck him in. However, Antanno could not allow it to do so. Not until he had gotten the right time and place. Antanno navigated it till he got the time right. 4E 201. Luckily no inhabitants would be around to hinder their progress to the ship.

Greir nervously eyed the horde coming ever so closer.

"Antanno, I understand that messing with Time and Space must be difficult and all that, but lets get moving. I don't find the thought of time-twisted beings tearing us apart very appealing."

Antanno continued to open the rift. Then, just as he reached its climax, he saw something within the void. It looked like a swirl of blue colors. He felt his soul being sucked into it. Antanno growled and resisted the urge to give in and let the rift do what it pleased with him. He refocused and got the right time again. He then called to his friends to get closer to it. And then, he let go. The rift sucked them in like a devouring beast and then shut again, tighter than it ever closed before. All three adventurers were tossed through time and space and thrown at an accurate time where the Aetherium Ship could be accessed the easiest. If Quann were with them, the journey would have been far more smooth. Instead of the thing feeling like you were tossed across the room by a Dwemer Centurion, it would have been like talking a stroll. Time and place could be chosen, and everyone of them could land together. Unfortunately, the wizard was dead, and Antanno had to do what he could with his limited knowledge. Eventually, They arrived at the time period. And as fate would have it, they all landed in the province of Skyrim.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey people. So, I started work on this chapter the moment I uploaded the 4th. I had quite a few ideas that sounded great in my head, and I tend to lose track of them if I should ignore it for now. So, I started. And then, a day later, I got a review! And another favourite! I was so happy, I got on a plane back to Nigeria and ran with the Lions. Thanks a lot. But please remember to Review. Do it. Only takes a few minutes. More if you want to go in-depth. But do it. Please. _

Antanno woke up on the ground with a splitting headache. His vision was blurred and his ears were ringing. As soon as his vision became coming into focus, he stumbled on his feet. Clutching his head, he managed to call out to his companions.

"Greir? Ghamul?" he called. He looked around at his surroundings. He was on a snowy road. The thick white snow came down heavily and the road was right beside a mountain. His vision finally came fully into focus and he checked himself. He still had the gear that he had when he left his own time. Antanno reached for his side. His blade still hung from it's strap. He looked back. A while back, a large gate stood behind him. Suddenly, a man on a horse came riding towards him. He had a look of panic on his face as he screamed out, "Get out of the way!".

Antanno leapt to the side as the man just tore past him. Antanno heard some more shouting as a group of familiarly dressed men in blue and chain-mail also came running past. But two men were not wearing the same armour. One was a Nord that had blonde hair and wore a fur coat that likely had armour underneath it. The way everyone bunched around him as if to protect him gave Antanno the idea that he was the leader. The other was a Orc. He looked the oldest and his face was weathered and scarred. He wore the hooded robes of a mage and looked like he was a Orc-shaman as he wore no visible weapons. Antanno cocked his head, trying to remember where he knew these men from. Seconds after they passed, around twenty soldiers came in Antanno's direction. They were dressed in mainly brown and read, but on their shields bore the sign of the Old Empire. Antanno instantly recognised the sign from one of his own history lessons. One that was ahead of the rest spotted him and called out.

"Look! Another one of them! Don't let him escape!" He cried.

Antanno swore under his breath and began running towards the direction of the men dressed in blue. Just as they came within view, he saw them surrounded by Imperial soldiers. The man that used to be on the horse was sitting on the ground dazed and confused. The armoured people were standing in a circle, with swords drawn, prepared to defend the Nord and the Orc. The Nord was shouting at them to drop their weapons and surrender. The Orc tried to support the Nord, as the blue armoured people slowly dropped their weapons. Suddenly, it clicked in Antanno's mind who these men were. The armour was the Stormcloak armour, armour worn by rebels of the Empire. And that Nord was Ulfric Stormcloak, leader of these rebels. And this was the date that they were captured and brought to Helgen. Antanno grew very cold and afraid. Abruptly, Antanno reeled and stumbled from a hit from behind.  
"W-wha?" He stammered and he looked at what hit him. A giant of a man wielding a huge cudgel towered over him. He smiled a cruel smile and brought it down on Antanno's head again. Then there was nothing.

When Antanno awoke, his hands were bound and he was sat in a cart being drawn by a horse. All his clothing and gear was stripped from him, and he was in rags. He looked around groggily. In his cart were three other prisoners and he recognised two of the faces in it. One was Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the rebellion. He was gagged as well. Antanno was about to wonder why when he remembered the abilities of the man. He could Shout in the dragon tongue and the Imperial's knew it. That was likely why they were being so cautious with him. Another prisoners was the man riding the horse. Antanno quickly came to the conclusion that the man was a criminal that the Imperials wanted. And by the sorrowful look on his face, Antanno could guess that he was relatively new to this and was a small time criminal. The other man was one of the armoured warriors. He was a Nord as well, with long blonde hair. He looked like he was trying to be brave. The man noticed Antanno looking at him and called out to him.

"Hey, wake up!" He said.

Antanno looked up. The man's armour was torn and looked like it had taken quite a beating. "I saw you guys at the border," Antanno began, "I know the guy that's gagged, but I don't know you. Who are you?"

The man replied, "I'm Ralof. How exactly did you come to be at the wrong place at the wrong time?". Antanno began to reply but the Horse thief suddenly burst in.

"Damn you Stormcloaks. I could have stolen that Horse and been halfway to Hammerfell,"

"Shut up back there!" An Imperial soldier called from the horse. The cart quietened down for a minute, and then the Horse thief spoke again.

"What's his problem?" He asked, gesturing to the gagged Ulfric. Ralof glared at him sharply.

"Watch your tongue!" He said, "You are speaking to Ulric Stormcloak. The true High King." The thief began to fret about.

"But, If they've captured him..oh gods, where are they taking us?!"

Ralof looked down at his lap and sighed. "I don't know. But Sovengarde awaits."

The cart approached a walled off village. The Horse thief began to pray to the Divines for help. Antanno stared into his lap. He felt an overwhelming feeling of anguish. He had barely set down and he was on his way to the headsman. He knew the Imperials would kill them all. What else would they do with the leader of the Stormcloaks. They travelled further into the heart of the small village. Villagers stood outside their home watching them. A small boy was being told to go inside, while he complained that he wanted 'to watch the soldiers'. Their cart lined up with the others and stopped. The horse thief continued to moan and whine about his fate. Ulfric and Ralof's faces were calm. They seemed to have accepted their deaths. They all climbed out and their names were taken. When the Imperial soldier taking the names got to Antanno, he looked at him and back at his chart. In a calm, clear voice, he asked "Who are you?"

Antanno replied, "My name is Antanno, but, I'm not with these guys. I just came by at the wrong place, wrong time." The man looked surprised and then looked at his captain.

"Captain, this one's not on the list." The Imperial captain looked at Antanno with contempt.

"Forget the list. He goes to the block." The Imperial soldier sighed. "By your orders, Captain." He looked at Antanno. "I'm sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to Hammerfell."

Antanno had guessed that this would have been the result. At least Greir and Ghamul can finish this, he thought miserably. And with that thought, he joined the others at the block.

He stood beside Ralof at the block and looked down the line. He noticed the Orc standing two people down the line. He also had a gag on his mouth. He looked peacefu, perhaps even joyful. Maybe he thought that today he went to Malacath. An Imperial dressed in an armour of a general, stood in front of Ulric. He looked proud of his accomplishment. Antanno immediately knew this was General Tullius. He was speaking to Ulric rather loudly about how he was going to "put him down". Ulric merely grunted. A priest began to pray for them, to give them their last rites. Before should could finish a fiery red-headed Stormcloak interrupted and strode up to the block. He had a defiant smile on his face as he knelt on the block to die. And as that axe fell and copped his head off, he still had that smile on his face. "Next, the Redguard!" Called the Imperial Captain overseeing the executions. Antanno strode up to the block, trying to look brave. As he walked, he hear a faint roar. He stopped and looked around, as did everyone else. A moment later, they came back to their senses and things continued as normal. Antanno knelt at the block and held his breath. The dead body beside him was sickening. Suddenly, from behind a mountain, a huge scaled beast emerged. Antanno's eyes grew wide and everyone except the Headsman saw it and began yelling. The Dragon landed on a watchtower behind the block and the Headsman. Antanno looked at the oblivious Headsman and yelled at him, "Behind you!". As the Headsman turned, the Dragon roared in an unknown tongue. The Headsman dropped his axe and screamed. Antanno rolled off the block and began to stand. The sky had turned red and houses burnt as the black-scaled Dragon lay waste to the village. "Hey Redguard!" Called a voice. Antanno looked around to see who called him. Ralof stood, beckoning, his hands unbound. "Come on! The gods won't give us another chance!" Antanno got to his feet and ran with Ralof into another watchtower. Inside were three Stormcloaks, one was bleeding and on the floor clutching his insides, another was looking after the man. And the final one was Ulfric, also unbound with his gag off. The Orc stood with them, ungagged. He looked down at his restraints and without a word, burnt them off, using some kind of adapted flame cloak. "Seems Malacath isn't done with me just yet." He said grimly. Ralof turned to Ulric.

"Could the legends be true?!" He asked in a panic.

"Legends don't burn down villages." Ulfric said calmly. Ralof turned back to Antanno and the Orc to say, "Come on! Up the tower, lets go!" The three of them charged up the town to see a Stormcloak frantically trying to clear a fallen staircase. Before he could let out a word, the Dragon used its skull to crash through the side of the watchtower besides the man. The debris instantly crushed the man. As if the Dragon wanted to make sure he was dead, he blew flames into the area he had smashed through. "Get down!" Shouted the Orc as he leapt back from the lick of the flames. As soon as they were sure the Dragon was gone, they looked out of the hole it had made. Across was a house that's roof had been blown through. "Jump through!", said Ralof to the Orc and Antanno. "We'll follow later." The Orc nodded and leapt through the roof and landed with a heavy thump. Antanno jumped through and rolled as he hit the floor to minimise damage. The Orc looked back to make sure he was there and kept moving forward. The moved out of the house and met the Imperial Soldier who had been taking names and a man beside him. They were attempting to coax a child towards them. Suddenly the Dragon landed right behind the child. The Soldiers eyes went wide and he raced towards the child shoving him out of the way of the incoming dragon blast. While the child escaped, the soldier was not so lucky. With a blast of fire, he was turned to ashes. It had all happened so fast that Antanno couldn't bring himself to feel any emotion but one. He just felt cold and angry. Angry at this beast that dared to come here and destroy everything these villagers held dear. The Orc seemed to take it even harder. He didn't look angry, just an overwhelming sadness. He looked at Antanno and began to speak. "Alright then, look here. This Dragon is named Alduin the World-Eater. He has been hunting me down because I have a special power. Something that truly threatens him." At that moment, it seemed like all his life he had been holding back his sorrow, a sorrow he was releasing now.

"I am old. I can no longer complete my quest. The quest that I have been given as the last Dragonborn." Antanno's eyes grew wide. He remembered the legend of the Dragonborn. He was going to be the one that solved all problems. Apparently he would make all in the land better. "I now must pass this power down. Normally, this would be impossible. But through decades of study, I think I can do it. Now hold still." With that, he summoned up all the Magicka he could and used the spell that would transfer the Dragonborn power. Antanno's eyes flared up and turned permanently white. His vision became blurred and a burning headache seized him. The child and man were now long gone.

"That's all I could do, I'm afraid." Said the Orc. "Any more, and I would fry your mind. Now go! The Dragon comes for me."

Antanno stumbled away, past a small crack between two houses. He moved past Tullius and his defence force, in combat with the Dragon. He reached the Keep, and looked at two different doors. Both would go in different directions and one would lead to certain death. A familiar figure dashed past and was about to enter a door when he looked back at Antanno. Antanno's vision came into focus again, though his headache remained and he saw Ralof standing there, calling him to come into the keep. Keeping a steady pace, he entered the keep.

The Orc stood at his spot. Watching the Skies. A bellow was heard and a mighty black shape dropped from the sky. He flapped his great dark wings and roared into the skies, gloating in his triumph. "Dovahkiin!" Alduin bellowed. "I have finally found you! There shall be no escape this time." The Orc's hood was raised. Beneath it, a smile crossed his face. "At least there is something we agree upon."

"For too long, you have fought against my powers and attempts. Now come! Summon your powers and fight your last battle!" Alduin said. The Orc threw back his hood and spread his arms.

"I'm afraid I have no more magicka. My power is exhausted." What looked like a smile spread across the Dragons wicked face. He replied is a low, gravel voice.

"Then you are finished."

The Orc looked towards the heavens and smiled, knowing the truth of the situation, and that he had outfoxed the Great World-Eater. Alduin leant his head back and summoned his hottest fires and released them upon the Orc. The result of the onslaught was a horribly charred ground, but the body was nowhere to be found. It had been utterly destroyed by the fires. The Dragon once again roared his triumph to the skies and took off, to complete the destruction of the village.

Antanno's head had begun clearing up, he noticed as he hurriedly put on his gear that he had found in a prisoner belongings box. The cuirass was a black, with gold highlights around the neck area is made of chainmail and pure studded leather over it for increased protection. A black leather hood and mouth mask were attached to the torso as well. Marked and scuffed leather gloves were also a part of the outfit. The boots are hardened leather, light enough to allow stealth for raiding enemy strongholds. A slightly curved short-sword on his belt. Antanno had learnt to quickly take these items on and off again very quickly. It had been one of Ghamuls many drills. If the Ideal Masters had discovered their home, they could not waste time slowly getting their armour on. Ralof sat in a chair looking round nervously.

"Come on." said Ralof. "I don't enjoy sticking around with a Dragon on the loose."

Antanno donned his gloves and stood to his feet. "Let's go."

They headed towards a door only to discover it was locked. "Damn." Muttered Ralof. As they turned, they heard two voices speaking about escape. Antanno heard it before Ralof and ducked into a crouch. He moved across to a gate opposite and crouched beside it. Ralof quickly joined him.

"What is it?" He questioned. "Imperials?" Antanno put a finger to his lips and peeked around the corner. He saw a Imperial soldier in light Imperial armour and another in heavy armour. Antanno's eyes narrowed. This was the Imperial Captain that sentenced him to he death. For no reason. This one was personal. Antanno drew his short-sword and prepared to begin combat. He motioned to Ralof to take the first Imperial that came into the room first. Ralof nodded and drew an axe. The light armoured soldier opened the gate and walked through. As he took his first step, Ralof swung his axe and embedded it deep into the man's neck. A thick gush of blood seeped from it as Ralof pulled the axe free. The man's eyes were completely oblivious to his recent death. It had been swift. The Captain was also caught off guard as Antanno ran up to her and kicked the sword from her hand before she could bring it into a combat ready status. He then brought his fast into he face with a quick and hard jab. She stumbled and almost fell over. And with her guard being utterly destroyed and down, Antanno stabbed his blade into her stomach and took it out swiftly. She fell over and died with a look of shock upon her face. Antanno cleaned the blade and sheathed it. Ralof was also cleaning his axe. Antanno noticed a key on the Captains belt. He removed it and moved to the locked door. He used the key and opened it up. Ralof joined Antanno standing there and looked down the spiralling stairway leading into the depths of the keep. "Let's get this escape moving, eh?" Said Ralof as they walked down the staircase.


End file.
